This morning I received an email advising me to be on the lookout for the WTC Survior virus. It does all the usual things, deletes your hard drive, microwaves your cat… You’ve heard it before.

The most important thing you can do when you receive such an email is check it for yourself. A good spot to visit is the Norton Antivirus website. There, in all its glory, you’ll find out the legitimacy of the warning. And details of this partcular example are here.

Funny thing about emails - it seems that if it comes in an email it must be true. People who forward these messages on would not (most of the time) beleive anything they heard in real life, but if it’s on the computer, well, it is somehow more authoritative. Don’t believe anything you read in an email!

It reminds me of the person who once told me that they’d taken the word “gullible” out of the dictionary…

A recent post on SmallOfficeBlog.com asks the question: Is small business ready to embrace Linux? I was actually asked a similar question by a client a few weeks ago. I gave them basically the same advice: No.

If you’re thinking about a server, then Linux should be certainly be considered, but for normal workstations, it’s just not worth it.

Sure, the software is free, but the real costs come after that. You can’t get Microsoft Office for Linux, and for better or worse, that’s the standard office suite. You could download alternatives like Open Office, but then you have to retrain everyone. And you have to worry about exchanging files with other people who do use Microsoft Office (They’re mostly compatible, but there always seem to be little things that don’t quite line up as intended).

Nor can you get mainsteam accounting software, desktop publishing software, and the list goes on. Linux alternatives are out there, but do your staff know how to use them? Probably not. More training.

Linux is getting more user-friendly all the time, but for now, better the devil you know.

One of things we tell out clients is that we develop websites that use XHTML and CSS2, and then try to explain the benefits of this. Most, understandably, seem to reply with “huh?”

It’s tough at times trying to explain the advantages of certain technologies in English, but John Allsopp has done me a favour by writing this article. Five important things to consider, and a good parallel with buying a car.

So that’s what I’ve been trying to say all this time!